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When Frank was
a child, his mother told him something
right before she shot his father to death. Ever since
then, Frank has wondered what she had meant with what
she told him. What he doesn't know is that by finding
out, he's put the entire earth at risk. A biological
creature feeding on light and energy has now been
unleashed and it's up to Frank and his new-found friend
Carrie to stop it before it's too late.
When there are no more creatures to make creature
features about, the Sci-Fi channel will start to make
up their own creatures - that day has come. Living
Hell is about a giant... errrmmm... thing that grows
at an extreme speed and kills everything in its path.
What is this thing then? Well, it looks like slimy
tree roots basically, I'm not really sure what it is,
but it sure does look like roots. Want to know the
strangest part about it? It's actually not that bad.
Living Hell isn't exactly what I would call a horror
flick. It's more of a sci-fi thriller of some sort,
but not really that either. Whatever it is, it's
certainly refreshing to see something fairly new and
original on the Sci-Fi channel for a change.
Erica Leerhsen has understood that horror is definitely
her genre and stars in this movie, originally called
"Organizm" (which is a much more suitable title if you
ask me). She gives us a terrific performance (as always)
and I love that she takes on every character as if the
movie was about to go theatrical. This really makes all
the difference, while other actors basically sleep
through movies that they know are headed for DTV just
because they don't think that it'll be a big merit on
their resume. Together with Johnathon Schaech (who's
also a terrific actor - how the hell did they get this
cast?) she sets out to kill a giant organizm that's
taking over the world at a rapid pace.
The story isn't very complicated and the effects won't
impress anyone but for some reason the movie comes out
as a rather entertaining film. I'm not sure if it's
due to the good pacing the movie has, if it was the
relatable characters or if it simply was the fact that
my expectations are so low when it comes to Sci-Fi
channel originals these days that I'll be impressed
by anything that's even remotely watchable. Either way,
Living Hell is a nicely shot and competently made
sci-fi thriller with an intriguing and somewhat
original concept and I thought it was surprisingly
decent. Certainly it won't win any awards and you'll
probably forget all about it after having finished it
but if you've got the Sci-Fi channel, I think you
should check this out the next time it comes on.
Heck, I'd actually even consider recommending you to
rent it when it's released on DVD (and that's a first
for a Sci-Fi channel original). Pretty damn entertaining
and for all the right reasons. No masterpiece but as
good as it could have been. Job well done.
Nothing.
Nothing special.
Living Hell may not be anything you'll watch over and
over again but it's pretty damn entertaining while it
lasts and any horror flick starring Erica Leerhsen in
it is a definite rent if you ask me (well.. except for
perhaps Blair Witch 2 - why make a sequel to such a
ridonculously crappy movie anyway?). Definitely worth
checking out, just don't expect too much.
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